Game developers are speaking up in defense of Xbox Game Pass in the wake of the subscription service’s most recent price hikes, specifically on its importance for indie discoverability.
“I can attest personally that people on Game Pass actually do try out small indie games, to the tune of staggering numbers,” Bulwark solodev Tomas Sala writes on Twitter, responding to an argument that price increases could reflect Microsoft’s commitment to making Game Pass work [via GamesIndustry.biz]. “On top of that, more platforms, with more diverse business models, with more diverse deal types, actually makes for more opportunities for indie devs. Not less.”
It makes sense that many Xbox fans have not taken the news lightly. It feels like just yesterday that the Game Pass prices went up again right before Starfield launched – to absolutely no one’s surprise. But Sala offers a different perspective to assertions that “Game Pass has irreversibly damaged the industry”, as Twitter user Ryan T. Brown says.
Sala isn’t the only indie developer clapping back at those declaring the death of Game Pass and Xbox as we knew it. Citizen Sleeper designer Gareth Damian Martin was quick to challenge Ryan’s viewpoint in a reply Tweet: “Game Pass has been an important part of Citizen Sleeper’s success and has led to more players buying the game, not less. Without Game Pass there would have been no opportunity to do the sequel. I know many indies whose projects have massively benefited.”
Martin goes on to explain the rare breadth of mass circulation afforded to indie devs from being a part of Xbox Game Pass, and it’s not all about the bottom line. “Thinking of the value of games as purely financially driven is wrong,” Martin says. “People give incredible value to games they love, and they find those games on Game Pass when they never would have encountered them [before]. This raises the devs’ profile, gains fans, and GP financially rewards indies.”
While Martin is right that games shouldn’t be all about the money, and that Game Pass offers near priceless outreach potential for indie studios and their games, this does feel like a best case scenario. After all, success on the subscription service hasn’t always meant such great things for smaller Microsoft-owned studios. RIP Tango Gameworks, creators of Game Pass breakout hit Hi-Fi Rush, as just one example.
Totally agree with this standpoint from an anecdotal perspective. I’ve played a bunch of indie games via Game Pass that I wouldn’t have given a second thought to if the only option was to buy outright. I’ve since bought a handful of them off the back of that, which is sales they would never have got.
However the price hike is too much for me when I consider how many other services I’m paying a subscription for. It was a toss-up between quitting Game Pass or Netflix, and in my house the value of the cost-per-hour of entertainment was massively in Netflix’s favour.
Interesting.
I agree with the point that people try smaller games more on subscription. As someone who love smaller indie games, even I have games that I am reluctant to try, or would rather buy another game than those, but if they are in subscription that I am already paying for, it’s easier to just download it and give it a try.
Though, according to various sources, the game pass contracts (as well as from other publishers) have become less attractive for indie devs, and also, people buy less games on Xbox, apparently Xbox has trained the users not to buy games, so unless you are in Gamepass, it doesn’t work out very well for you.
So, both sides have their points. And depending on how many games you play, Game pass has tremendous value.
Personally speaking, with my gaming habits, the math (for PS+ Extra) didn’t work out for me, so I unsubscribed from that, but if I get gamepass, I think getting game pass for 2-3 years to play through whole MS first party backlog, would be more than worth it.
